President Obama: no Lyndon Johnson, no Franklin Delano Roosevelt

I am still trying to figure out how a Democrat who won the presidency by a large margin, got into office, with the entire country knowing that we needed action from the Federal government has managed to squander the opportunity to lay the groundwork for a systematic domestic agenda at which social justice and welfare are front and center. I knew President Obama was not the most liberal or progressive of the Democratic contenders for the presidency - and I wondered often as the campaign proceeded just how liberal or progressive he was at all. I did not prefer the content of John McCain's views to whatever I could glean the content of "hope"/"change" was.

I assumed that President Obama had a domestic agenda that he would promote and actually, although I felt that the way the nomination had been rigged in Denver, the Democratic Party did not deserve to have its candidate with the general election, I did assume that the Party establishment's favored son would actually fight for its causes.

But if we examine how President Obama has handled TARP-part 2, it seems like he has no plan and certainly not one that puts domestic justice and welfare front and center. Read this for a good take on the situation. Best quote: "On the domestic issues Mr. Obama ran and won on — health care, education, climate change, rebalancing the distribution of wealth — the legislation does little more than promise there will be more to come."

Comments

[purplefinn]

"I assumed that President Obama had a domestic agenda that he would promote.......actually fight for its causes."

I was hoping he might, although from the first time I listened to him, I noticed a lack of substance.

BTW he's no Abraham Lincoln either.

[Annie]

When Hillary left the Senate, that was the signal the domestic side was in deep, deep trouble ...That the Upper Crust was coming for us. If Obama was going to anything as was hoped,Hillary would be there to see it though.

But since Hillary couldn't stop the Upper Crust from stealing everything,( and lord knows she tried) she had to leave the crime scene and make the best of a bad situation. Thank God she's at State.

[sarahfdavis]

It's 11 dimensional chess doncha know! This is some supersmart strategerie by Obama to hoodwink the republicans and bring them to their knees. Us bitter-enders just can't see it like those that wear the hope and change goggles. Just give him more time...the master plan will become evident soon enough. And if it doesn't become evident, at least we don't have McCain, right? And Obama did call David Sirota....

[turndownobama]

Perhaps the result is to give Obama's real backers what they want, cleverly disguised as a mess.

I hope someone is comparing the list of banks and Wall Street people who in fact got the money ... with a list of Obama's donors.

LAT: TARP probe delayed over paperwork rule
By Ralph Vartabedian January 31, 2009 -

The Obama administration has told special investigators in the Treasury Department to delay a comprehensive examination of how banks and other corporations are using $350 billion in federal bailout money because of possible
conflicts with federal paperwork statutes. [....]

The OMB could have issued a rare emergency waiver of the law. [....]

Barofsky "should not have to jump through bureaucratic hoops in order to gather basic information that the government could have and should have required as a condition of the receipt of TARP funds in the first place," Grassley told OMB director Peter Orszag in a letter. Grassley also disputed whether the paperwork law applied to the investigation.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-tarp31-2009jan31,0,679610.story

[ainnj]

I don't think this economic crisis can been handled any worse than it is being handled by Mr. Obama and his administration. He has instilled nothing but more fear in the public, vilified and alienated wall street and corporate America (yes folks, we really do need those guys on board to turn this country around and stop the job hemorrhaging, the mortgage foreclosures) and has further fueled a complete lack of faith and trust in government, to the extent there was any faith and truth left to be had. We all knew he wasn't ready for the job, but I had at least hoped that those around him would take up the slack and that somehow he and his cronies would start to overcome their audacity of themselves and start thinking and acting like leaders instead of petty little frat boys. All we have seen is one embarrassment after another, one misstep after another.
I don't believe anyone can do much in the way of getting this economy to turn around, it's truly something that will run its long, painful course, but what we do NOT need and what we seemed to have received is someone who will make this worse for everyone. We have everything to fear, according to mr. obama, fear itself is his contribution.

Turns out Hillary Clinton was right, all he has to offer is a speech he gave in 2002.

[grayslady]

Heidi, Glenn Greenwald has a great piece up today in Salon about how Obama deliberately ran on personality rather than party. He points out that many of the so-called left blogs are now too afraid to criticize Obama because they never supported him for his ideas, but rather for his personality (or skin color, I wonder?). Greenwald maintains that many of the Obot blogs are afraid that if they return to being Democratic blogs that they'll lose their increased readership, and that the Obots will just find another blog where they can worship unquestioningly. What a pathetic state of affairs.